Questions about mending socks

[jishinsjourney]

I’m the first to admit I’m not a knitter. Sewing is more my jam. I have a tendency to wear through my socks at the Achilles tendon, where the shoe rubs against the back of my heel.

Obviously sewing is not a good fit for this; it doesn’t stretch and will likely rub. I’ve looked up how to darn socks, and also saw a suggestion that wool felting might be a way to deal with thin areas.

For those of you who have more experience than me, what is the best way to handle mending this kind of thinning / holes? And what would your recommended yarn or wool be? I tend to invest in Smartwool or Darn Tough socks — they are warm, cozy, and generally rugged, but they still definitely wear out in that one spot.

 

[LadyLocust]

I use a wool sock yarn and darn my socks. I'm not great at it but do get extra life out of them by doing so.

 

[TeeJ]

I wear almost exclusively wool socks and boy is it frustrating (and expensive) when they wear out. My darning is rudimentary, but it works. I just use wool yarn as well, whatever's close to the same color and cheap. I've found there's no need to buy a fancy darning egg also - a burn out light bulb will work just fine

 

[jishinsjourney]

Great, thank you! Much appreciated.

 

[Weedygarden]

I've mended socks. I have several pairs of wool blend socks. The older ones do wear out on the heels and soles. I do throw them away sometimes. I do notice that if I wear slippers when I am in the house, instead of walking around in my stocking feet, that my socks do not wear out as quickly. I always take my shoes or boots off at the door when I come in, and keep my slippers there to put on.

I inherited some of one of my grandmothers threads for sock mending. I set up a kit for myself with all of my sock mending stuff. I started this thread early on when this forum started. I see that there is a video in it about darning socks.

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/darning-socks.51/#post-580

 

[joel]

Use a light bulb to darn socks.

 

[Weedygarden]

Use a light bulb to darn socks.

I have, but they can break, and then you have a new problem.

 

[joel]

I have, but they can break, and then you have a new problem.

Needle & thread, not a hammer.

 

[BBLife]

DARN those holes in socks! Little pun there....
I've darned socks while camping. Just any cotton thread worked for me. I'd find a good round creek rock to hold the shape while doing the stitches.

 

[Tommyice]

You might try adding a reinforcement thread held together with your darning thread.

Regia reinforcing thread

 

[Weedygarden]

You might try adding a reinforcement thread held together with your darning thread.

Regia reinforcing thread

There is special thread for darning socks. I haven't looked for it in a while, so I have no idea about the current availability.

 

[Weedygarden]

Research on availability of thread and supplies. There is a kit that can be purchased, currently on The River (Amazon) for around $20. You can buy from a variety of darning threads as well, in a variety of fibers and colors.
https://www.amazon.com/Darning-Supp...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

 

[Tommyice]

There is special thread for darning socks. I haven't looked for it in a while, so I have no idea about the current availability.

I’ve used a similar thread to the one I linked above when knitting socks. You hold the reinforcement thread with the yarn as you knit. You could easily do that with your darning yarn to add extra strength. I haven’t used this one—I used one called Socka that I haven’t been able to find lately.

 

[Weedygarden]

I’ve used a similar thread to the one I linked above when knitting socks. You hold the reinforcement thread with the yarn as you knit. You could easily do that with your darning yarn to add extra strength. I haven’t used this one—I used one called Socka that I haven’t been able to find lately.

What I didn't find, while looking at this, is the thread in darker colors such as black, navy or gray. Most of my winter socks are dark. This seems to be in brighter colors, but maybe I missed the dark colors.

 

[Tommyice]

Here’s another site just for fibers

Yarn.com. WEBS

 

[jishinsjourney]

Thanks everyone for your helpful tips and advice. I ended up ordering some supplies from etsy so that I could get some closer color matches.

@Weedygarden I do actually wear shoes inside; I have a couple pairs of shoes dedicated as house shoes. But they’re shoes, not slippers. I wear socks in them. I have pretty high arches; shoes seem to do better for the support.

Perpetually my problem is wear at the Achilles tendon, where the back of the shoe rubs against my ankle.

 

[LadyLocust]

Thanks everyone for your helpful tips and advice. I ended up ordering some supplies from etsy so that I could get some closer color matches.

@Weedygarden I do actually wear shoes inside; I have a couple pairs of shoes dedicated as house shoes. But they’re shoes, not slippers. I wear socks in them. I have pretty high arches; shoes seem to do better for the support.

Perpetually my problem is wear at the Achilles tendon, where the back of the shoe rubs against my ankle.

If you need practice, I have several pairs you can work on.

 

[jishinsjourney]

@LadyLocust Ha! I’ll have to get through my backlog first.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

I use sock yarn or thread.
I also use wooden egg.
Depending on where the hole is:
Turn sock inside out.
Carefully go through the loop on the side of worn spot top and bottom just like you hand stitching a piece of fabric together. Pull firmly but gentle you don't want a pucker. Go one set of loops at a time until you make to the other side of worn spot. If done correctly you won't see the repair.
Hope this helps.
This is what I do because I have hard time finding correct fitting socks.
You have to be patient and take your time.
I use the same technique when repairing sweaters.

 

[Weedygarden]

@Weedygarden I do actually wear shoes inside; I have a couple pairs of shoes dedicated as house shoes. But they’re shoes, not slippers. I wear socks in them. I have pretty high arches; shoes seem to do better for the support.

In some Montessori classrooms, children have indoor shoes and outdoor shoes. The indoor shoes are real shoes, usually something that slips on and off fairly easily to help them change them out.